The present invention relates to a vehicle seat.
A generic vehicle seat thereby comprises a floor component group, e.g. with a rail arrangement for the longitudinal rail guide, and a seat frame, which is fixed to the floor component group. The seat frame is connected to the floor component group via at least one coupling element and is arranged spaced apart from the floor component group essentially vertically to a longitudinal seat direction. The seat frame thereby usually carries a seat cushion and can be connected to a backrest of the vehicle seat. The coupling element is fixed, on the one hand, to the seat frame, for example at one of two seat side components opposite each other transversely to the longitudinal seat direction, and, on the other hand, to the floor component group, for example to an upper rail of a longitudinal rail guide. Accordingly, the coupling element can be a rigid component which holds the seat frame at a fixed distance to the floor component group, as is often the case, for example, with rear vehicle seats for minivans. A coupling element, however, can also be a component which is hinged to the seat frame and to the floor component group respectively in order to be able to adjust a distance of the seat frame to the floor component group in a variable manner. Such a component is then often designed as a type of lever, which is hinged to the seat frame at one end and to the floor component group at its other end.
With such coupling elements of a vehicle seat, particularly with coupling elements mounted in a hinged manner for the height adjustment of the seat frame, there is the problem in case of a crash, that is, during a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle or another vehicle, that the coupling element can deform transversely to the longitudinal seat direction, and that the seat frame thereby dislocates in a crash in an undesired manner relative to the floor component group and/or increased forces are introduced into the floor component group. Here, a deformation of the coupling element transversely to the longitudinal seat direction is understood, in particular, to be a lateral bending and a torsion of the coupling element.
For example, crash tests were carried out on a vehicle seat arranged on a rail assembly with two longitudinally displaceable rail pairs via several mounted coupling hinge elements so as to be height-adjustable, and to which a belt for a vehicle occupant seated on the vehicle seat is anchored in a fixed position on the floor of the vehicle. By means of the rigid fastening of the belt on one side to the seat frame and on the other side to the vehicle floor, large transverse forces can be present at the coupling elements, which are in the front region of the seat, viewed in the longitudinal direction of the seat. Due to this transverse force, the coupling elements can bend laterally or can be twisted. As a result of this, the seat frame can distort relative to the rail arrangement and/or higher forces can be introduced into one of the rail pairs, so that the risk for material failure increases here in case of a crash.
It is already known in practice to provide at least one arrester element on the seat frame in order to minimize this risk and to ensure that such a coupling element of the connection between the seat frame and the floor component group does not deform in an undesirable manner in a crash. Such an arrester element is formed and arranged in such a manner that the coupling element can make contact with the arrester element in case of a crash and that the arrester element then counteracts a deformation of the coupling element transversely to the longitudinal seat direction. The arrester element can thus additionally stabilize the coupling element in a crash, so that regularly this is not bent laterally or twisted.
For example, it is known in practice to form an arrester element by a pin or bolt projecting laterally from the seat frame, which pin or bolt has a head at its free end, with which a coupling element can make contact in case of a crash and via which the transversely occuring forces, which would lead to a lateral bending or a torsion of the coupling element, are introduced into the pin or bolt.
But arrester elements on vehicle seats known to date, which are intended to counteract a deformation of a coupling element, often are not sufficiently rigid transversely to the longitudinal seat direction, so that, even where there is a large distance between the seat frame and the floor component group, e.g. when the seat frame is in an upper adjustment position, sufficient resistance against a deformation of the coupling element transversely to the longitudinal seat direction is not provided via the arrester element.